Articles

When we first developed the idea of creating a marketing agency, there was an element of optimism and enthusiasm for what the future meant for us and what this business would bring to our lives. We wanted to bring our ideas to life over years of studying in different creative fields, merging Phillipa’s background in fashion communication and Adam’s background in marketing, to create a fully functioning ecosystem that empowers brands with strategic marketing solutions; using our Gen Z and millennial mindset to ensure your brand regularly evolves and remains on trend. Our first six months as a marketing agency in Newcastle has definitely demonstrated promise for us, despite challenges along the way! In our last blog of the year, we round up the previous six months for us including internal developments, client progress and exciting prospects.

So, Where did it Begin?

Launching on June 14th 2018, we were instantly entrusted with the biggest CRM company in France, Sellsy. They are globally recognised service provider of CRM software, offering a sales and marketing platform to manage leads, gain customers, create opportunities and generate quotes and invoices. The company raised €7m in funds to expand in the UK, choosing us as their sole content creating partner.

In August, our Marketing Director Adam and Creative Director Phillipa took the big leap out of their jobs and took on Noise full time. It was a liberating, yet daunting moment. However, soon after, we partnered up with Intergalactic Gaming (IG), an innovative gaming company, using blockchain technology to disrupt the gaming universe. We worked on a very exciting project with IG Gaming, which spanned over eight weeks. It entailed a brand audit, analysing the current branding & marketing efforts of IG, looking at ways that we could contribute to expanding the company’s fast-paced growth through visual and verbal communications. Second, we designed a rebrand, outlining changes in the brand audit, redesigned to accommodate the rebellious and maverick persona in association with founders, the employees, and the gaming community. Finally, we developed a campaign strategy for their ‘Alpha’ platform launch, that was designed to engage, attract and convert both B2B and B2C consumers looking to get into the E-sports industry.

Although we like to keep our team relatively small, we recruited two contributors, Jeff Baker and Hannah Lymn. They have been a part of our team since August and are a huge driving factor behind our current growth! Jeff takes care of our inbound marketing strategy through SEO strategised blogs, including marketing trends, digital insights, and how the creative landscape is changing. Hannah maintains and expands our social media presence, engaging with our audience and creating new opportunities through social media marketing.

Fast Forward to November…

In November, we brought on Anthony Edmundson, a voice-over artist, looking to grow his understanding digital marketing through SEO services and social media workshops to leverage his overall online presence. It was an exciting opportunity for us to utilise our knowledge of SEO and social media within a relaxed one-to-one environment, fully immersing ourselves in his brand to grow with it.

For as long as we’ve been a marketing agency in Newcastle, we’ve received fantastic support and guidance from the Hatchery as part of Northumbria University. Around mid-November, we took on two contributors doing Fashion Communication BA, Emily Manoharan and Emily Wilkinson. They are currently second-year students and have a keen eye on all things creative. They recently took over our Instagram to expand our current audience and engage on Tuesdays and Fridays, so you’ll see a lot more of them in the future. Our team has now reached six, which we didn’t think would happen over the space of five months and paves the way for our next six months in business.

Following the recruitment of our new contributors, we recently partnered up with Motel One, an affordable international hotel, that provides the luxuries of a five-star brand. We will be providing social media workshops on the importance of strategy and it’s implementation, specifically the basics of social media management, developing social media content, and elaborating on the power of visual content.

Within six months of operating, we have managed to gain four clients, with hopes of getting our fifth by the end of the year. Our initial target was to get five clients over our first 12 months, so to hit our target six months earlier is a huge achievement for us.

Currently, we’ve just finalised our Q1 2019 communication strategy, which is a more sophisticated infrastructure on how we are going to generate leads through methods of expanding our social media strategy and increased focus to our SEO services. We also revamped our website, which focuses on minimalism and white space to create a clean, professional and digestible user experience – something we have Helena Hill UX to thank for. Our services are more concise, with updated visuals on our Weekly Noise blogs.

What Does 2019 Hold?

We have an optimistic year ahead of us. If we hit our target of five clients before the end of the year, we will be looking to extend our objective to 10 within the first 12 months of trading. We are hopeful to be working on many more exciting projects throughout the course of next year, so increasing and maintaining our clientele is a prospect that we will be working on extensively within the next year. We may also be on the lookout to expand our team; our contributors have been doing a fantastic job so far and have helped us out with improving our social media presence and curating blog content that has made a positive contribution to our SEO. If you are interested in working for us, drop us a line.

Christmas is upon us, and we are ready for the festivities; gifts, food and of course, wine! Spending much-needed downtime with our loved ones, soaking up the turkey and nut roasts (for the veggies!), and winning a classic nail clipper in a Christmas cracker is what it’s all about. So get yourself into a food coma and put your feet up, this year has been full of challenges for all of us, and we all deserve the very best of holidays. Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year from all of us at Noise Creative, we hope you have your New Year’s resolutions at hand for January, we sure do. See you next year!

Nostalgia marketing is a phenomenon on the rise, tapping into customer emotion, memories, and consumption. As trends recycle and taste change, nostalgia marketing has a significant impact on attracting customers. Whether consumers have heard it for the first time or re-living their favourite days, nostalgia can influence many demographics and psychographics.

In this Weekly Noise, we interview Erico Gianni, an international fashion influencer on the power of Nostalgia, how it affects his personal brand, the fashion industry, and trends to expect in the future.

We would like to give a huge thank you to Erico for his insights, Gab de Leon for taking the time to film and produce the interview, as well as Trendlistr for the vintage styling. For more information on these amazing individuals and their creative work, follow the links below:

When the UK voted to leave the European Union on 23rd June 2016, no-one quite understood what was going to happen moving forward. Although things are little clearer more than two years on, businesses and consumers still have a looming cloud over the post-Brexit scenario, whether the UK’s economy will take a big hit, slow decline, or no effect at all. Leavers believe there will be minimal impact on the economy upon divorce, remainers believe the complete opposite. Additionally, the price of goods & services, cost of living and the state of the NHS are all concerning factors to the future of the UK after the big split.

The critical questions to consider with only months left until we leave are; what does this mean for the future of marketing in the UK? How will it affect the way we buy and consume our essentials and luxuries? Will we have enough in our pockets to afford luxuries at all? The exploration of potential consumer buying habits and confidence levels will determine what strategies marketers will need to have prepared and ready for March 29th 2019. The transition period is likely to come into effect, meaning we will still operate under EU rules & regulations. Therefore, it is crucial for businesses to have a contingency plan and strategies in place if the entire Brexit deal collapses within the last two months of negotiations; providing they haven’t already struck a deal before the end of 2018 (let’s hope).

Deal, or no Deal?

A no-deal scenario for the UK leaving the EU is a scary thought for everyone. Let’s face it. Businesses and consumers will feel the biggest hit; with the UK potentially facing tariffs of 90% on EU goods. Trading under World Trade Organisation terms equates to “an average tariff of 4%, which is about £4.5 billion to £6 billion-worth of increased costs per year on our exports”. To elaborate on the consequences of a no deal scenario, the leading problems most likely to happen are:

A fall in the value of the pound, which means sourcing international promotional material will be increasingly expensive. However, those exporting from the UK may find some opportunities in this, acting as a stepping stone to growing outside of the UK – that is if the expected taxes don’t restrict this all together.

Uncertainty of approximately 2,550 EU workers within the design and creative industries, tightening the supply of creative accessibility and the pockets of those looking to pay for creative work.

Cause chaos around cross-border services, i.e. financial services, aviation, broadcasting, professional and legal services, including neighbouring industries that work closely with these services. Fast forward to October 2018; this event is very unlikely to happen, but a lot of outlined effects are still very real. Nevertheless, if the Conservatives want to be out of power for the next 30 years, a no deal Brexit won’t be an option. Recently it has been reported that Brexit talks are 95% complete in terms of securing an agreement. That doesn’t mean that the no deal scenario is completely ruled out, though. The intricacies of a deal with the EU are tenfold; which is why it’s currently difficult to predict such an outcome.

Changes in Consumer Behaviour and Confidence

Until the vote, we thought we understood the consumer. Endless models on consumer buying behaviour and analysing confidence levels have assisted us to accurately build profiles and strategic campaigns effectively. Mark Haviland of Rakuten Marketing EVP Global Development, stated that “Marketers must work hard to understand their customers better if they are to engage customers in this unsettled market”. A report by Rakuten on the changes in consumer buying habits after Brexit suggested the following:

UK consumers may favour goods made or sourced in the UK after Brexit.

Foreign-produced premium goods such as handbags, casual apparel and formal clothing brands likely to be affected from a loss of trust by 41% (handbags), 39.3% (casual apparel), and 37.8% (formal clothing).

56.3% of consumers may not prefer to pay more for online delivery in the event of an increase in premium brands

Although there will be a change in consumer buying habits, brands can utilise these results to curate new strategies and campaigns to benefit from. For example, brands with a ‘home-grown’ ethos, can capitalise on the change in UK consumerism towards goods made or sourced in the UK after Brexit. A focus on a campaign appealing to this audience could be a feasible option if your brand didn’t already have a ‘home-grown’ ethos.

Living costs and rising inflation are significant factors in consumer confidence. If living costs rise, confidence in personal finances go down, consumers feel the squeeze in their pockets, meaning they are less likely to spend on luxuries and focus more on essentials. The rippling effect of consumer change limits the way marketing delivers effective results for companies, so it’s vital that consumer confidence remains at safe levels. Thankfully, the hot weather from August 2018 helped boost consumer confidence levels but remained in negative figures at -7. However, the further we go into negotiations without a secure deal by Christmas could ignite a decrease in consumer confidence as the worry of Brexit will catch up as an underlying concern for people, alongside rising inflation.

The Impact on Marketing Strategy

To adapt to a constantly evolving situation, marketers need to align their future strategies and predict all possible outcomes of Brexit before Q1 2019 hits. Brexit has resulted in a pragmatic approach from marketers that requires intensive thought and decision-making on how companies can still maintain consumers and generate new leads after March 2019.

The interesting conundrum of the impact on marketing strategy is the effect on marketing budgets post-Brexit. The IPA (Institute for Practitioners of Advertising) suggested that UK marketing budgets have been growing at its slowest rate since 2015, notably in Q3 of 2018. It is no coincidence that it’s a concern for businesses; uncertainty surrounding Brexit has caused careful consideration of financial planning and it comes with no surprise that marketing budgets are amongst those affected, with 80% of companies freezing or reduced budgets (69% and 11%). Despite that, the chances of a deal is more likely than a no deal, so there is optimism within the marketing world to invest more into budgets to expand internationally, for those that haven’t yet explored export strategies.It is evident that marketing strategies will need to change after Brexit because we don’t know the exact details of how it’s going to change buying habits, only predictions. What we can take-away from these predictions, however, is that it’s going to take more than a ‘wait and see’ approach to Brexit, which is no longer an option only months away from the final decision of departure.

So how can Businesses Market to These Changes?

Export Strategy
For brands, it’s less complicated now than ever to market your products outside of your home turf. What lies underneath the big data umbrella is accurate demographic segmentation and personalisation right at your fingertips. The integration of digital (social media, digital display, Out-of-Home advertising) within marketing has revolutionised the way we impact people’s lives. A significant marketing trend for businesses come Q1 2019 is to focus on an export strategy post-Brexit as the price and confidence in the pound continue to stagnate at a low level. The idea that SMEs are taking shots at exporting goods outside of Europe to drive export growth is something few and far between but is happening with succession. A CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) report produced in May 2018 suggested that 70% of SMEs, already exporting goods, is set to increase 3% in the next three years. Look into building campaigns that sell the international accessibility of English products and services. An export strategy is essential to thrive in times of uncertainty, especially when the pound is at a weak point because prospectively, imports will be more expensive and it financially makes more sense to focus on export growth.

Pricing Strategy
Economic pressures due to a potential hard Brexit could entail more expensive imports, meaning businesses will need to develop their ‘home-grown’ ethos to justify their price, or even undercut the more expensive imports. This approach will mean a re-evaluation of your pricing strategy and as a business, the responsibility and its margins are down to you. So what is the focus? Great service for value. This is no new concept in the customer-centric marketing world, but in times of uncertainty, consumers need to feel like they are getting substantial value for money. Businesses need to adapt to this mindset during the rise of inflation. The weakened currency has pushed up import costs, so it is crucial that consumers are aware that prices are inevitably going to rise after Brexit. As inflation increases, the marketing department is fully responsible for pricing strategy; so getting your pricing strategy right to get your business through financial uncertainty from Brexit is so important to retain and grow your customer base.

Unity is a word that draws the foundation as to how our society evolves and connects with one another. Facebook has connected and divided the world via the IoT (Internet of Things), illustrating the sheer power of digital platforms and the tools and techniques associated with it. Despite the double-edged sword that is social networking sites, the platforms do continue to drive the connectivity of families around the world, bringing together many individuals from different cultures and backgrounds. One parallel to consider is how ad campaigns affect the relationship of businesses and people. It all boils down to the design and the message. There are many ads that have had good intentions but backfired because of culture normalities, history, and emotion. Nevertheless, there are plenty of campaigns out there that have changed the world; spreading nothing but a positive message, igniting social change, and embracing diversity. Here are our Top 5 Campaigns in 2018, That Brought the World a Little Closer!

LinkedIn – ‘In It Together’

The social networking giant LinkedIn has done a great job of allowing professionals within business to connect with each other, find new jobs, and network. Would you think it’s outrageous to consider an MMA fighter or even a rancher to use LinkedIn? Probably yes. The platform currently has a ‘white collar’ stereotype that the company are gradually eliminating; outlined in their 2018 campaign ‘In It Together’. The objective of the campaign was to assure that LinkedIn can be used by people of all backgrounds, not just businesspeople.

The ad displayed scenes of workers from non-traditional backgrounds; culinary, music, MMA, dancing and animation, etc. Giving an insight into each individual’s lives in black and white with documentary-style filming – gave the ad a realistic feel and ultimately demonstrated all different categories of success. Using several platforms (paid social media, digital display, OOH (Out-of-Home), video, radio, and podcasts). The company launched the campaign in four markets in the US (Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Philadelphia). You may have also seen the ad if you watched the Golden Globes this year. Although it was a specifically targeted campaign, it aimed to bring unity within the network and build communities outside the working stereotype.

ESSC (Easterseals Southern California) – ‘Change The Way You See Disability’

We can all agree that we appreciate organisations that put their utmost efforts into their purpose and campaigns. ESSC are an organisation that assists over 10,000 people in several parts of California with disabilities, with a purpose to ‘change the way the world defines and views disability by making profound, positive differences in people’s lives every day.’ Their ad campaign ‘Celebrate, Don’t Separate’ portrays a very powerful message that people with disabilities are the same as everyone else on the planet and should not be generalised upon first glance.

The President & CEO of ESSC, Mark Whitley, stated “When we unite as one, we can create social change and break down barriers. Every day, people make generalisations about people with disabilities – and many may not even realise they’re doing it. We’re launching a movement that helps people look beyond what they see at first glance to build a more inclusive world.”

The campaign features a video accompanied by calls-to-action on their website; options for donations and what impact they have made to communities, to following the #CelebrateDontSeparate hashtag which encourages people to take a photo with a friend and post on social media with the line “We are linked by the promise to change the way the world sees disability. #CelebrateDontSeparate” to increase awareness of the movement and encourage social change.

Netflix – ‘A Great Day in Hollywood’

In a reference to Art Kane’s 1958 photo ‘A Great Day in Harlem’ which is a black-and-white image of 57 of the best jazz musicians of that time, ‘A Great Day in Hollywood’ is a campaign by Netflix launched in late June 2018, wanting to reinforce commitment to equality and the casting of black actors, actresses, directors, and creators. The profound message of featuring Aijona Alexus (13 Reasons Why), Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things), Danielle Brooks (Orange Is The New Black) and many more, displayed a personal, strong aura within the scenes which was really captivated by the filmers and editors.

Lines like “We stand upon any stage and any screen” and “This is not a moment. This is a movement” really speaks volumes to the objective of the campaign and is moving to hear such an authentic narrative. Diversity within Hollywood is still a pressing issue; not just people of colour, but women too. The #OscarsSoWhite and #MeToo movements helped expose Hollywood’s diversity issues, but there is still an underrepresentation of women and people of colour in Hollywood film and TV, according to the UCLA. It’s incredibly important and vital to our societal evolution that we embrace diversity and welcome it wherever you are in the world; which is why this campaign on many levels, is so powerful.

Children With Cancer – ‘Keeping Families

UK based charity organisation Children With Cancer launched an ad campaign on the message ‘Keeping Families Together’. The organisation’s vision is to one day eliminate the possibility of a child dying from cancer. The ad design is very informative; supported by clever animation and providing interesting statistics on results that the organisation has delivered for children and their families. Over 30 years, they have managed to:

Raise £230 million

Funded over 200 projects from important clinical trials to research and family accommodation

They spread awareness of the campaign on social media, through YouTube videos, TV ads and billboards. Although the topic is very sensitive, it represents a positive message that unifies families that are going through the trauma, giving them opportunities to save their loved ones through Children With Cancer and the many other charities that support cancer research; who wouldn’t gain the awareness they deserve without campaigns like these.

Unless you had a foreign language drilled into your brain whilst growing up with your parents; learning a second language can be much harder as an adult. Why? Whilst all adults have a declarative and procedural memory system, children primarily utilise their procedural system; meaning they pick up grammar much faster than adults, unconsciously. In a marketing context, the probability of a business that is ambitious to expand globally is slim unless you can effectively speak their native tongue and adapt your campaign to their culture and circumstances. Hyper-localisation in multilingual marketing is essential to ensure your campaign is specific and effectively targeted. However, don’t fall into the trap of using a simple translation to stick onto your billboard; you never know, your potential market might try and “eat their fingers off“.

Recognise the Need for Expansion

Going from small-time to international can be a scary thought and some businesses shy away because, on paper, the threats outweigh the benefits; but it is not impossible by any stretch of the imagination. The recognition that there is a need for a new product in the market is vital, to begin with.

For example, Spain is a country where you will struggle to find great iced coffee, where only ‘cafe con hielo’, a mug of hot coffee and a few ice cubes, is present. So why aren’t there coffee shops all over Spain that provide easily accessible iced coffee? It is more complex than a standard nationwide marketing campaign to try and convince locals to soak up an iced caramel macchiato in 30-degree heat. Starbucks is the only notable brand that has captivated coffee lovers in Spain with their variations of iced drinks. How? Put simply, it was an identified gap that was fulfilled via a multitude of dynamic marketing tactics to unlock their audiences desire for a cold brew. Most importantly, their use of multilingual marketing to speak to communities on a personal level was where their catalyst for success.

To solidify your position to expand, check your analytics and ask yourself “will my product work here?”, “is there a genuine need for my products in this country?” If you’re a business that operates solely online and wants to open up a store, look at the buying habits/analyse trends and preferences of that specific area and decide whether it’s the most feasible option for future trading.

Now, you’ve established your need for a new product in a new market, the tricky part is tailoring a campaign to your chosen market to ensure it doesn’t flop and end up costing your company more than the initial investment.

Hyper-localisation and Tone of Voice

No international business can thrive in an area where they don’t identify and exercise the needs of a community. This is where hyper-localisation enters the arena, giving your campaign the much-needed personalisation and authenticity to stand out.

A form of advertising, hyper-localisation offers brands the opportunity to deliver their message to highly targeted areas, at a certain time of day, to a specific community. The most popular form of hyper-localised advertising lies within OOH (Out-of-Home) advertising, although traditional marketing methods are still used to execute it. The increasing mobile consumer means one thing for marketers; provide convenience for your audience.

It is important for companies to create long-lasting relationships within the evolving customer-centric business world; a strategy that Spotify succeeded in with its 2016 campaign “Thanks 2016, it’s been weird”. Their in-house creative team pulled off a fantastic hyper-localised ad campaign which ran in 11 markets, capitalising on their big-data analytics and delivering excellent multilingual marketing on a global scale. Most importantly, it was the focus on their tone of voice that captivated their audience. 2016 was a tough year with many disastrous events around the world and Spotify managed to make light of said events by displaying a humorous, tongue-in-cheek tone, which created their recipe for success because consumers could connect with the brand on a personal level. SMEs take note. Hyper-localisation, personalisation and tone of voice are nothing new in the industry, but not enough brands practice it with efficiency. Leverage these techniques to create opportunities for your brand and gain advocate customers. It was interesting to observe a Spotify billboard in Germany, where it reads “Lieber User in Berlin, der eine 10-stündige Playlist namen, Kneipenliebe” erstellt hat – Immer mit der Ruhe.” We tested a Google

Translation on the sentence which translated in English; “Dear user in Berlin, who have created a 10-hour playlist called ‘pub love’ – always with peace.” Although a large chunk of this text was translated correctly, the end of the text sounds somewhat incorrect; the point being, make sure to do your translations with a local of the area. Yes Google Translate do a good job of basic translation, but if your goal is to connect with hidden communities within a specific location, allowing your message to shine through their native tongue will go much further.

Adapt Your Campaign to Culture and Circumstances

So by now, you should have an idea as to how you’d strategise your next overseas campaign. With all of this in mind, it is crucial to understand the times when things go wrong. Some are perhaps simple errors that can be fixed, or millions of pounds and a complete rebrand to fix a failed campaign purely down to translation issues.

HSBC had to spend $10 million to rebrand and fix their campaign “Assume Nothing” because once it launched in other countries, the message translated to “Do Nothing” in many instances which caused a plethora of problems for the bank.

Coors, attempted a slang tone of voice with their campaign “Turn it Loose”, but they discovered that slang doesn’t translate very well; Spain commuters saw the commonly known expression which was interpreted as “Suffer from Diarrhoea”.

This is why it’s imperative to adapt to their culture, and actually meet people in the areas you wish to target.

Keren Levy, Chief Operating Officer of Payoneer, couldn’t have said it better in regards to understanding and identifying areas of needs for overseas marketing “You can’t sit in New York or California and feel the needs of customers in India, Pakistan, China, Japan, without sitting with them to understand their needs and their sense of urgency”.

Source: Medium.com

Summary

Be clear about what message you’re trying to portray to resonate with your consumers. Even the biggest of businesses make the easiest of mistakes, which can be costly if you don’t put 100% focus into each detail of your campaign. Especially when it’s going to unfamiliar territory where a simple translation error can make or break your message, or even your brand! It’s not a case of finding new ways to effectively market overseas; the tools and techniques have been around for years and will stay as a fundamental part of multilingual marketing. You just need to leverage these techniques, to strengthen your international marketing strategy and provide you with better results.